The elevator groaned as it rose, gears grinding under the strain of old machinery. Sweat clung to Ethan's brow, but he didn't loosen his grip on the girl. Her eyes were half-lidded, breath shallow but steady.
Maxwell stood near the door, rifle aimed at the ceiling, just in case. Harper watched the control panel, counting the floors aloud under her breath.
When they finally reached the top, the doors yawned open with a hiss of pressurized air.
Liam's voice buzzed through the comms. "The whole grid just hiccupped. Whatever she did down there,it fried something big. Astra's scrambling."
Maxwell muttered, "Good. Let them burn."
They crossed the clearing fast, back toward the van. Ethan laid the girl across the rear seat, adjusting her head gently against the window. Harper slid behind the wheel, starting the engine with a quick twist.
"Where to?" she asked.
Ethan looked back at the burning trees in the distance. "Anywhere out of here."
Liam met them at a new safehouse: a nondescript apartment above a closed hardware store in Southside. No cameras, no signals, no records. The kind of place you only found if you already knew it existed.
Inside, Ethan laid the girl on a makeshift cot. Her body trembled as if she were still hearing echoes no one else could.
Liam hovered beside them, eyes flicking from her to his tablet. "I've got heat trails all over the last site. Astra's launching drones in zones we didn't even know they monitored. They're not looking for survivors."
"They're looking for evidence," Harper said flatly.
Ethan rubbed his face, exhaustion hitting him in waves. "And we're the last thread."
The girl stirred.
Her voice was small. "I felt them. When I was in the system."
Liam crouched. "Felt who?"
She didn't look at him. "Others. Not just me. Other mirrors. Some broken. Some... still intact."
Ethan froze. "How many?"
She shook her head. "I don't know. But there were clusters. One close. One far. One dormant."
Maxwell leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "So this wasn't an isolated lab."
"No," the girl said. "It was just a fuse box."
Ethan looked at Liam. "Can you trace her connection? Backtrack where those clusters are?"
Liam nodded slowly. "If she's willing to sync up again, yes. But it'll be dangerous. If they detect her…"
"They will," the girl said. "But that doesn't mean I won't go in."
Ethan frowned. "You don't have to do this. You've already been through hell."
She sat up slowly. "And if I don't, others stay there. Trapped. Like I was."
The room went quiet.
Finally, Harper spoke. "Then we prep for war."
Night fell over Brinlake.
The city's lights glowed like scattered embers, brilliant, chaotic, and indifferent. From the rooftop, Ethan could see the sprawl of it all. Streets pulsing. Towers blinking. Life continuing like there wasn't a war hiding underneath its skin.
The girl joined him, arms wrapped tight around her ribs.
"You should rest," he said.
She shook her head. "Too loud inside my head."
He looked at her...
She wasn't the scared shell he'd met in that forest. Her eyes were harder now. Sharper. Something had awakened in her and not just trauma.
"You scared?" he asked.
She nodded. "But not of them. Not anymore."
"Then what?"
"Myself," she said. "I don't know what I'm capable of.
Ethan didn't pretend to have an answer. He just stood with her, letting the silence speak.
Then, below them, headlights.
A car.
Fast.
Harper's voice crackled in his earpiece. "Incoming vehicle. Unmarked. Not ours."
Ethan pulled the girl back from the edge. "Move. Now."
They rushed down the stairs. Liam was already shutting down the power grid, plunging the apartment into darkness. Maxwell took position at the front door, weapon ready.
The car skidded to a stop outside.
Then nothing.
No one got out.
Harper whispered, "That's a delivery tactic. Draw us out. Wait for exposure."
Maxwell growled, "They really think we're that dumb?"
Something ticked against the glass.
The girl turned her head sharply. "Drone. Small. Surveillance-grade. It's watching."
Liam peered through the blinds. "Yep. Eyeball cam. Feeding visuals to someone."
"Take it out," Ethan said.
Maxwell took the shot.
The drone popped mid-air, pieces raining onto the sidewalk.
But the damage was done.
A second later, the back door exploded inward.
Smoke. Screams. Shouts in commspeak.
They poured in six, maybe more. Black gear. No insignia. Astra's ghosts.
Ethan dove behind the counter, dragging the girl with him. "Stay down!"
Gunfire roared.
Maxwell and Harper returned fire, pinning two intruders before they made it past the kitchen. Liam slammed shut the inner security door, locking two more in the hallway.
Ethan watched the girl,no panic. No hesitation. She was staring at the lights on the floor, blinking in sequence.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Reading their signal paths," she said calmly.
"What?"
"They're using shortwave relays. Triangulated off portable nodes."
She pressed her palm to the floor.
The lights surged.
A scream from the hallway.
Liam stared. "Did she just...?"
"They're blind now," the girl said. "I shorted the uplink."
The remaining soldiers faltered, hesitation visible in their stances. Harper seized the moment, flanking two and dropping them clean.
Maxwell took the last one with brutal efficiency.
Silence fell.
Bodies on the floor. Smoke in the air.
Ethan turned to the girl.
She was bleeding from her nose, but standing tall.
"I'm not a weapon," she said. "But I can be the spark."
Harper approached her slowly. "What did you just tap into?"
"The same current they fed into me," she said. "I didn't burn it out. I redirected it."
Ethan exhaled slowly. "They'll come harder next time."
"Let them," she said.
Her voice didn't shake.